My requirements were pretty simple but not easily attained. I needed a rifle that could handle the type of game mentioned out to say 200yds. It needed to be cheaper than a centrefire to shoot but still as accurate. It needed to be fast to reload and have a magazine capacity as close to 9 shots or more, as spotlighting rabbits can often be fast and furious where I hunt.
Trying to fill these requirements was quite difficult. Over the last 12 months I had narrowed it down to 3 rifles. They were the Sako Quad, the Ruger and the Browning T-Bolt. These rifles were the only ones available with a magazine capacity of more than 5 shots. One of the other rifles I did like was the Anschutz 1517 but with a magazine capacity of only 4 shots it was out of the question. My mate has this rifle and it shoots very well but I am forever seeing him trying to change mags or reload often at critical times. I know many people would say why not carry more full magazines? Well I can now carry two Mags and have twenty shots compared to say 8 with the Anschutz. Plus it reduces the chances of that dreaded click when pulling the trigger on an empty round. Trust me I have heard my mate utter a few well chosen words after these particular moments.
As much as I am a Sako fan I didn’t think the rifles quality reflected its price tag, especially as I would have to buy a larger magazine or two at additional cost. This would have put the rifle between $1500-2000.The Ruger was also let go because I know like most Rugers the triggers need a fair bit of work and I didn’t really like the barrel clamping method into the action. In saying this both of these rifles would have done the job it’s just well maybe I wanted something different.
This is where the T-Bolt got my attention. About a year ago I spied a 22 version in my local gun shop. After a good look I thought this would be a great little rifle in a seventeen!! On closer examination I could see that the action was large enough to accommodate a magnum rimfire case. This got me thinking. Is it available in a 17HMR? After a quick bit of googling there it was!!!! I needed to see one in the flesh but this is where disappointment would set in for a while. Olin Australia let me know that they had no idea how long before we would see one in OZ. Well after what seemed a hell of long time, I had heard that they would be available at the start of this year.
There are four versions that I have seen released in Australia and they are a Timber Sporter, Timber Varmint, Composite Sporter and Composite Varmint. It is worth mentioning that both the Composite versions come with a spare mag in the Butt plate. A nifty idea.
One thing that may put a lot of people off with the T-Bolts is that they do use a fair bit of plastic or “composite” in the manufacturing of these rifles. The trigger assembly housing is made of composite and so is the main part of the magazine. Personally I don’t think it is a big issue as some of these composites actually have some advantages over metal. No corrosion and weight reduction being a key ingredient.
While I am talking about weight the sporter version that I purchased is less than 5lbs, one of the lightest rifles I have ever used. The finish on the Browning is second to none and unlike the original Browning’s that were made in Belgium these new ones are now manufactured in Japan by Miroku. Some of the key points that I like about this rifle are as follows: The Overall finish of the rifle is first class. The action is already bedded with a free floating match grade barrel and chamber. Trigger is adjustable down to about 3lb and has no creep what so ever. The speed of the T-bolt makes you remember your once loved semi autos. Extremely accurate. Flush magazine holding 10 shots. Lightweight.
The Magazine on this rifle is probably what makes it so different to the original T-Bolt. It is called a Double Helix which feeds the bullets like an upside down question mark. Like I had mentioned it is partially plastic but it works like a Gem. I have put over 300 rounds through this rifle so far and it hasn’t missed a beat. It actually seems to like being worked hard and fast and trust me this rifle is fast.
A good rifle deserves a good scope and after a lot of deliberation I managed to track down a Kahles 6x42 with a 7a reticule. I use the same era Kahles 8x56 on my Sako 222 and I love it to death. I believe a lot of people over scope their hunting rifles. I prefer a lower power scope with a finer reticule and the little Kahles 6x42 is almost made for this rifle. I mounted the scope with a set of Leupold STD Low rings and the Leupold base is the same as for the Remington 541.
The trigger easily adjusted down to around 3lb. The adjustment is made with a small allen key screw just in front of the trigger guard. Backing out the screw reduces the trigger weight but be careful as the screw can work loose if backed out too far.
Now let’s get to the good bit, firing the new toy. Well to say this rifle is a pleasure to shoot is an understatement. After bore sighting I tried four different types of ammo. Hornady, CCI, Federal and Winchester Supreme. All ammunition being 17gr ballistic tips. This rifle is not that fussy and each brand of ammo easily shot ½” groups at 50yds, with the Supremes having 4 out of 5 shots through one hole. Moving the target out to 100yds I thought I would try them all again. The Supremes were the best putting a 3 shot group under 1/2” at 100yds. This is well and truly better than I could have expected. I have spent many hours building centrefire rifles to have them not shoot as well as this without many more hours experimenting with handloads. I have sighted the rifle around 1” high at 100yds. This stops the projectile from rising much over the inch between 30 and 100yds. It is only a few inches low at 150 and about 6” low at 200yds.
With the rifle raring for action a hunt was organised. It was to be a morning out whistling foxes and an afternoon out sniping a few bunnies. As we were sitting down to start whistling, a fox took off out of an old wood pile. At about 120yds he slowed to go under a fence and that was all I needed. First shot hit him in the spine a little far back. He dropped with the shock but was then to get up before a second in the head finished him off. Not a bad start.
We moved along the creek but as the wind was a bit flukey we had a few come in and catch our scent before we could get a crack at them. One thing I did realise though is this little 17 is an emphatic rabbit killer. By midday we had got to the point where we would rest, have some lunch and then turn back for the afternoons Rabbit hunt. When we first got to this location we had a whistle with no luck. Half an hour later with a bit of food in the guts my mate said “bugger it I’LL try the whistle again”. With that the Tenterfield shrieked and it was only about a minute before we noticed one lonely fox wandering the adjacent paddock about 500yds off. A couple more blows on the whistle and he showed some interest. With the aid of a bit of camo the shade of the tree the fox was lured into about 20yds. One shot from the T-Bolt and it was goodnight. Then I heard the whisper “there’s another one”. Same paddock but this one was heading to our left towards the creek. We lost sight of him. We kept whistling and within a couple of minutes another fox was seen sniffing the ground in which the first fox travelled. With a few more puffs on the whistle he was on his way. Not as fast as the first but still heading in the right direction. As we were concentrating on this fox coming across the paddock we almost failed to see a fox 20 feet to our left. It was the one that had dropped down into the creek and had now re appeared almost behind us. The 17 cracked again and with a couple of kicks he too was down. The other fox realised something was going on and was now in top gear. This is where the T-Bolt shines. First shot just behind, second just over his back but the third was just right and over he went at about 120yds. Three shots before he even travelled 80yds. It was just like having my semi auto back, I was in love!!!!!!
So to the T-bolts Credit it is fast and accurate.
Too the 17’s credit it is deadly on small varmints with very little report compared to a centrefire. I Don’t believe we would have got all three if we were using centrefires.
The other thing that made it possible was good use of camo, wind and shade.
Rifles are very much a personal choice and for me this rifle as yet hasn’t even been used for what I bought it for but for some reason I know it will do the job just fine.
Cheers Robbo :onya:
